29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”‘

The Israelites listening to Peter knew that the Messiah would come from the lineage of David; they just didn’t know when and where. Nobody seemed to know, that is, until it was almost too late.

Jesus had lived among the people for 33 years. For 30 years He was just a regular guy, working as a carpenter. With the exception of Him teaching in the synagogue at the age of 12, He didn’t perform any miracles or teach great messages until He was 30 years old. Although having a perfect brother must have been interesting for his siblings. They knew He was different but probably couldn’t quite figure out why. Mary and Joseph definitely knew He was different.

So when Jesus revealed Himself as the Son of God, it sent shock waves throughout His community. Everyone would be watching closely to truly examine this man who claimed to be God’s son. The leaders were hoping to catch Him in inaccuracies and outright lies. The people, on the other hand, looked to Him for hope, though they may not have expressed it that way. They knew the Messiah would come to them “soon,” but why would He come during their time on earth?

Then, just as they were trying to figure it out, He was crucified and buried. There went their hope, in the grave.

But we know the rest of the story. The people Peter was addressing probably knew some of the rest of that story too. When something this spectacular happens, people hear about it one way or another. Peter was merely filling in the details.

We don’t always get details about life events that happen to us. Most of the time we get bits and pieces. That’s more than enough to trust God. We may not like it, nor do we understand it, but the information is just enough.